The Sidney Lanier Monument is a public

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Located in

Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban forest and park in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as ...

, the monument consists of a bust of

Sidney Lanier Sidney Clopton Lanier (February 3, 1842 – September 7, 1881) was an American musician, poet and author. He served in the Confederate States Army as a private, worked on a blockade-running ship for which he was imprisoned (resulting in his catch ...

, a notable

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

from Georgia. The monument was dedicated in 1914.

History

was a

from

who was born in Macon in 1842. After graduating from

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, United States. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder ...

in 1860, he served as a private in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Following the war, Lanier, an accomplished

flutist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, played for the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

and published some of his most famous poems, such as " The Marshes of Glynn". Lanier died at the ripe age of 39 due to tuberculosis he had contracted while he was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. After his death, he was honored with numerous memorials, such as in the name of

Lanier County, Georgia Lanier County is a county in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. At the 2020 census, the population was 9,877. The county seat is Lakeland. It is named after Georgia poet Sidney Lanier. Lanier County is part of the Val ...

and

Lake Lanier Lake Lanier (officially Lake Sidney Lanier) is a reservoir in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee ...

. The monument was erected in 1914 by the

Association. Sue Harper Mims, the wife of Atlanta Mayor Livingston Mims, funded the monument's creation and erection, having sold some of her

jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

to raise the money. The monument was designed by

Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was an American list of architecture firms, architecture firm ...

while the bust of Lanier was designed by

Edward Clark Potter Edward Clark Potter (November 26, 1857 – June 21, 1923) was an American sculptor best known for his equestrian and animal statues. His most famous works are the marble lions, nicknamed ''Patience'' and ''Fortitude'', in front of the New York ...

. Following the monument's dedication, it became the subject of numerous acts of vandalism in the following years, with a popular college prank among students in Atlanta being to remove the bust from the monument. The bust was eventually removed and relocated to Oglethorpe University in 1985. In February 2012, a replica of the original bust was installed on the monument. The restoration, which took two years, was led by the Atlanta Preservation Center, with the newly restored monument debuted on February 4. According to ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'', the committee behind the restoration decided that the monument was not a Confederate monument, and therefore recommended keeping it in place. However, given his association with the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

, numerous discussions of the monument are in the context of other Confederate monuments, including in a report issued by the

Atlanta History Center The Atlanta History Center is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead (Atlanta), Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and has a large campus featuring historic gardens a ...

to the

government of Atlanta The city government of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, is composed of a mayor and a body of one councilman from each of 12 districts, a City Council President, and 3 other at-large councilmen: *Post 1 representing districts 1–4 *Post 2 repre ...

on Confederate monuments and memorials in the city.

Design

The monument is designed in the form of an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

, with a recessed area in the front of the monument holding a bust of Lanier. The bust faces west.

References

External links

* {{coord, 33.78605, -84.37494, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-GA, display=title 1914 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1914 sculptures Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Georgia Outdoor sculptures in Georgia (U.S. state) Sculptures in Atlanta Vandalized works of art in Georgia (U.S. state)

History

Design

See also

References

Further reading

External links